KR102527851B1 - Array antenna including multiple polarization portsand and electronic device including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an array antenna, and more specifically, to an array antenna including multiple polarizations by arranging multiple ports at adjacent locations. Specifically, the array antenna may include a first substrate having a rectangular shape having a first thickness; a second substrate having a rectangular shape and having a second thickness disposed in contact with a lower surface of the first substrate; a ground plane shared by the first substrate and the second substrate; It may include first ports and second ports disposed penetrating the ground plane.

Description

Array antenna including multiple polarization ports and electronic device including the same

The present disclosure generally relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly to an array antenna including multiple polarization ports in a wireless communication system and an electronic device including the same.

Recently, smart phones, tablet medical devices, IoT devices, and the like apply wireless communication technology to exchange data with external devices using antennas. For such data communication, various polarization characteristics (e.g., LP (linear polarization), RHCP (right hand circular polarization), LHCP (left hand circular polarization)) are required to maximize channel capacity between devices. is being demanded According to this trend, when multiple radiators are used to implement antennas with different polarization characteristics, the size of the aperture of array antennas having various polarizations increases accordingly, making it difficult to apply them to devices.

Therefore, a technique capable of miniaturizing the size of an array antenna and realizing multiple polarization using only one radiator is required.

Based on the discussion as described above, the present disclosure relates to an array antenna, and specifically provides an array antenna with improved multi-polarization characteristics in which multiple ports are disposed adjacent to each other in order to improve the multi-polarization characteristics. do.

In addition, the present disclosure provides an array antenna in which left hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right hand circular polarization (RHCP) characteristics are implemented by using a multi-feed structure in a feed patch.

In addition, the present disclosure provides an array antenna in which two polarized waves orthogonal to each other are implemented through a hybrid chip coupler for two polarized waves orthogonal to each other.

In addition, the present disclosure provides an array antenna having improved feed patch and radiation patch gain characteristics as multiple ports are disposed adjacent to each other.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an array antenna may include a rectangular first substrate having a first thickness; a second substrate having a rectangular shape and having a second thickness disposed in contact with a lower surface of the first substrate; a ground plane shared by the first substrate and the second substrate; It may include first ports and second ports disposed penetrating the ground plane.

An array antenna according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide polarization diversity gain through one radiator by arranging ports having different polarizations in adjacent positions.

In addition, the array antenna according to various embodiments of the present disclosure can reduce the size of the antenna and simultaneously provide polarization diversity gain through multi-feeding of a high dielectric and a single radiator.

Effects obtainable in the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. will be.

1 shows a perspective view of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
2 illustrates one side of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
3 shows a table of exemplary design specifications of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
4 shows a graph of gain characteristics of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
5 illustrates a graph of axial ratio characteristics of array antennas according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
6 illustrates an example of an electronic device including an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Terms used in the present disclosure are only used to describe a specific embodiment, and may not be intended to limit the scope of other embodiments. Singular expressions may include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art described in this disclosure. Among the terms used in the present disclosure, terms defined in general dictionaries may be interpreted as having the same or similar meanings as those in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present disclosure, ideal or excessively formal meanings. not be interpreted as In some cases, even terms defined in the present disclosure cannot be interpreted to exclude embodiments of the present disclosure.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure described below, a hardware access method is described as an example. However, since various embodiments of the present disclosure include technology using both hardware and software, various embodiments of the present disclosure do not exclude software-based access methods.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure relates to an array antenna for a wireless communication system and an electronic device including the same. Specifically, the present disclosure describes a technique for implementing a dual polarization antenna, that is, a radiating element (eg, a radiating patch) providing different polarizations together. In particular, since equipment having a much larger number of antennas is expected to be used through Massive MIMO technology, a more efficient antenna design is required in terms of miniaturization, manufacturing time, and production cost.

Terms used in the following description to refer to parts of an electronic device (e.g., board, printed circuit board (PCB), flexible PCB (FPCB), module, antenna, antenna element, circuit, processor, chip, component, device), Terms referring to the shape of a component (e.g. structure, structure, support, contact, protrusion, opening), term referring to the connection between structures (e.g., connection, contact, support, contact structure, conductive member, assembly) ), terminology designating circuits (e.g. PCB, FPCB, signal line, feeding line, data line, RF signal line, antenna line, RF path, RF module, RF circuit) is for convenience of explanation. is illustrated for Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may be used. In addition, terms such as '... unit', '... unit', '... water', '... body' used below mean at least one shape structure or a unit that processes a function. can mean

In addition, in the present disclosure, an expression of more than or less than may be used to determine whether a specific condition is satisfied or fulfilled, but this is only a description for expressing an example, and more or less description not to exclude Conditions described as 'above' may be replaced with 'exceeds', conditions described as 'below' may be replaced with 'below', and conditions described as 'above and below' may be replaced with 'above and below'.

In addition, although the present disclosure describes various embodiments using terms used in some communication standards (eg, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)), this is only an example for explanation. • Various embodiments of the present disclosure can be easily modified and applied to other communication systems.

Recently, smart phones, tablet medical devices, IoT devices, and the like apply wireless communication technology to exchange data with external devices using antennas. In this environment, the number of antennas (or antenna elements) of equipment performing wireless communication is increasing in order to improve communication performance. In addition, as the number of RF parts and components for processing RF signals received or transmitted through antenna elements increases, space gain and cost efficiency are essential while meeting communication performance in configuring communication equipment. is required as In order to satisfy these requirements, a dual polarization antenna utilizing multiple polarization is being used. As channel independence between signals of different polarizations is satisfied, polarization diversity and thus signal gain may increase. That is, various polarization characteristics (LP (linear polarization), RHCP (right hand circular polarization), LHCP (left hand circular polarization)) are required to maximize the channel capacity between devices for such data communication. It is becoming.

In the case of using multiple radiators to implement antennas with different polarization characteristics, there is a problem in that application in devices is difficult as the size of the aperture of the array antenna increases. When the distance between antennas is reduced, interference between adjacent antennas increases, which causes deterioration of cross polarization ratio (CPR) performance. That is, if the array antenna elements are arranged adjacently in a group, mutual interference occurs between the array antenna elements, and polarization characteristics to be implemented may be significantly deteriorated. Accordingly, improvement of cross polarization ratio (CPR) in a dual polarization antenna is required. This is because CPR is proportional to major communication performance such as throughput, bit error rate (BER), and polarization diversity. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure implement different polarizations (eg, left hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right hand circular polarization (RHCP)) in one radiator, thereby We propose a technique for miniaturizing the size and obtaining polarization gain at the same time.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an array antenna. By applying a multi-feed structure to one emitter (e.g. patch) or feeder (e.g. feed patch), left hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right hand circular polarization (RHCP) characteristics at the same time can be implemented simultaneously.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can improve impedance matching characteristics and stably provide axial ratio characteristics of circular polarization (CP) by using a hybrid chip coupler for two polarizations orthogonal to each other. there is. By using the circular polarization, it is possible to improve the performance of the array antenna by minimizing the effect of multipath. In addition, the array antenna according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may increase gain characteristics of both the feeder and the radiator.

An array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be disposed such that orthogonal signals are provided to four feeding pins in a lower feeding unit. Here, two pins, that is, one pair may implement LHCP and RHCP characteristics through a hybrid chip coupler. As the other pair implements RHCP or LHCP, the LHCP and RHCP characteristics can be implemented together in the array antenna through 44 pins.

Through the above method, even if one feeding patch is used for the antenna, the axial ratio characteristic is not deteriorated and the circular polarization characteristic can be maintained. Since only a high dielectric and one feeding radiator are used, the array gap of array antennas can also be minimized. By reducing the spacing between radiators of the array antenna, it is possible to miniaturize the antenna. In addition, by designing an upper radiation patch, a radiation pattern may be more directed in a bore-sight direction compared to a single patch, and gain characteristics may be improved.

That is, the embodiments of the present disclosure can implement LHCP/RHCP characteristics at the same time despite using a single radiator, and can reduce the size of an antenna because multiple power is supplied to a high dielectric and a single radiator. The present disclosure may be applicable to a variety of applications. For example, it can be applied to a base station antenna using two polarized waves, RFID, a receiving IoT device whose polarization is modified by multipath, and GPS applications.

Hereinafter, arrangements, structures, performances, and application examples of multi-polarization antennas according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 .

1 shows a perspective view of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Referring to FIG. 1 , an array antenna 100 includes a first substrate 103, a second substrate 107, a ground plane 113, first ports 111, and second ports 109. can do.

The first substrate 103 means a substrate on which the radiator 101 is mounted. According to an embodiment, the first substrate 103 may be a rectangular parallelepiped having a predetermined width W and height h2. According to an embodiment, the first substrate 103 may be ceramic.

The radiator 101 may be disposed on one surface of the first substrate 103 . According to an embodiment, the radiator 101 may be positioned in a state of being in contact with the upper surface of the first substrate 103 . According to an embodiment, the radiator 101 may be configured in a patch shape. That is, the radiator 101 may be referred to as a radiation patch. Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, the radiation patch may be referred to as a first patch and described. For example, the radiator 101 may have a rectangular shape having a predetermined width W1. According to an embodiment, a predetermined width W1 of the radiator 101 may be smaller than a predetermined width W of the first substrate 103 . According to an embodiment, the first substrate 103 may come into contact so that the center of the first substrate 103 and the center of the radiator 101 coincide. According to an embodiment, the radiator 101 may include a hole in which a certain area is vacated in the patch surface. For example, the radiator 101 may include a rectangular hole having a predetermined width W2 with respect to the center of the radiator 101 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , the second substrate 107 means a substrate on which a power supply unit 105 is located. According to an embodiment, the second substrate 107 may have a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a predetermined height h1. According to an embodiment, the second substrate 107 may be ceramic.

The power supply unit 105 may be disposed on one surface of the second substrate 107 . According to an embodiment, the power supply unit 105 may be located in a state in contact with the upper surface of the second substrate 107 . According to one embodiment, the power supply unit 105 may be configured in a patch shape. That is, the power feeding unit 105 may be referred to as a power feeding patch. Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, the power supply patch may be referred to as a second patch and described. For example, the second patch 105 of the power supply unit 105 may be a circular patch having a predetermined radius r2. According to one embodiment, the power supply unit 105 may include a hole in which a certain area is vacated in the patch surface. For example, the power feeding unit 105 may include a circular hole having a predetermined radius r1 with respect to the center of the power feeding unit 105 . According to an embodiment, a predetermined radius r2 of the hole may be smaller than a predetermined radius r1 of the power feeding unit 105 . According to an embodiment, the second substrate 107 may come into contact so that the center of the second substrate 107 and the center of the power supply unit 105 coincide.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the ground plane 113 may mean a substrate for forming a ground between the radiator 101 and the power supply unit 105 . At the ground plane 113 , a ground shared by the first substrate 101 and the second substrate 107 may be formed. According to an embodiment, the ground plane 113 may be disposed in contact with the lower portion of the second substrate 107 . According to an embodiment, the ground plane 113 may have a circular shape having a predetermined diameter g. In one embodiment, the ground plane 113 may be a PCB.

According to one embodiment, the ground plane 113 may include first ports 111 and second ports 109 penetrating the ground plane 113 . The first ports 111 may include a 1-1 port 111a and a 1-2 port 111b. The second ports 109 may include a 2-1 port 109a and a 2-2 port 109b. The first ports 111 may be associated with a first polarization, and the second ports 109 may be associated with a second polarization. According to an embodiment, the first polarized wave and the second polarized wave may be configured to correspond to each other. For example, according to an embodiment, the first ports 111 may be left hand circular polarization (LHCP) ports. According to an embodiment, the second ports 109 may be right hand circular polarization (RHCP) ports.

According to an embodiment, by applying a phase difference of 0 ° and 90 ° to each of the two power supply ports (eg, the 1-1 port 111a and the 1-2 port 111b), respectively (respectively), RHCP Feeding can be implemented. A phase difference of 0° and -90° is applied to the remaining two of the four feed ports (eg, the 2-1 port 109a and the 2-2 port 109b), so that the LHCP port can be implemented

According to one embodiment, the first ports 111 and the second ports 109 may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

According to one embodiment, the 1-1 port 111a and the 2-2 port 109b may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

According to one embodiment, the 1-2 port 111b and the 2-1 port 109a may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

According to one embodiment, the 1-1 port (111a), the 1-2 port (111b), the 2-1 port (109a) and the 2-2 port (109b) have a certain height (l1 ) can have.

2 illustrates one side of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Here, the cross section may correspond to a direction in which the ground plane of the array antenna of FIG. 1 is viewed. The hybrid coupler (eg, the first hybrid chip coupler 207a and the second hybrid chip coupler 207b) refers to a circuit that divides an input signal into two output paths to have a constant phase difference. The hybrid coupler has a very high application value due to the unique phase difference between its two outputs, and is therefore widely used in antenna systems, high-power amplifiers, and linearization systems. According to the basic operation of the hybrid coupler, when all ports are matched, the signal applied to the input port may be divided into two with a phase difference of 90 degrees between the two output ports.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the array antenna 100 includes a first hybrid chip coupler 207a, a second hybrid chip coupler 207b, port(s) 203 for connecting a resistor, and a source for applying It may include port(s) 201, first ports 111 passing through the ground plane 113, and second ports 109.

According to an embodiment, the 1-1 ports 111a and 1-2 ports 111 b included in the first ports 111 and the 2-1 ports included in the second ports 109 109a and the 2-2 ports 109b may be disposed as shown in FIG. 2 through the ground plane 113 .

According to an embodiment, the first hybrid chip coupler 207a includes a port 201 for applying a source, a port 203 for connecting a resistor, a 1-1 port 111a, and a first -2 port (111b) can be connected.

According to an embodiment, the port(s) 201 for applying a source connected to the first hybrid chip coupler 207a may receive the source using a coaxial cable.

According to an embodiment, a resistor having a certain resistance may be connected to the port 203 for connecting a resistor connected to the first hybrid chip coupler 207a. According to one embodiment, the constant resistance may be about 50 ohms.

According to an embodiment, signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees may be supplied to the 1-1 port 111a and the 1-2 port 111b, respectively. For example, the signal supplied to the 1-1 port 111a may be fed with a signal that is 90 degrees ahead of the signal supplied to the 1-2 port 111b.

According to an embodiment, the 1-1 port 111a and the 1-2 port 111b may be used as RHCP power supply ports by using the first hybrid chip coupler 207a.

According to an embodiment, the second hybrid chip coupler 207b includes a port 201 for applying a source, a port 203 for connecting a resistor, a 2-1 port 109a, and a second hybrid chip coupler 207b. -2 port 109b may be connected.

According to an embodiment, the port(s) 201 for applying a source connected to the second hybrid chip coupler 207b may receive the source using a coaxial cable.

According to an embodiment, a resistor having a certain resistance may be connected to the port 203 for connecting the resistor connected to the second hybrid chip coupler 207b. According to one embodiment, the constant resistance may be about 50 ohms.

According to an embodiment, signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees may be supplied to the 2-1 port 109a and the 2-2 port 109b, respectively. For example, the 2-1 port 109a may be supplied with a signal that lags 90 degrees from the 2-2 port 109b.

According to an embodiment, the 2-1 port 109a and the 2-2 port 109b may be used as LHCP power supply ports by using the second hybrid chip coupler 207b.

According to one embodiment, the first ports 111 and the second ports 109 may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

According to one embodiment, the 1-1 port 111a and the 2-2 port 109b may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

According to one embodiment, the 1-2 port 111b and the 2-1 port 109a may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the ground plane.

In one embodiment, the ground plane 113 may be a PCB.

RHCP or LHCP may be supplied simultaneously using the ground plane 113, the first hybrid chip coupler 207a, and the second hybrid chip coupler 207b according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Through simultaneous power supply, it can operate without problems in axial ratio (AR) characteristics and gain characteristics. By applying the operating principle of the hybrid chip couplers 207a and 207b to the source signal, the two power supply ports (respectively) 0° , power feeding with a phase difference of 90° may be provided. In addition, power supply having a phase difference of 0° and -90° may be provided to the remaining two power supply ports (the 2-1 port 109a and the 2-2 port 109b), respectively. Accordingly, the RHCP port may be implemented through the first ports 111 and the LHCP port may be implemented through the second ports 109 .

3 shows a table of exemplary design specifications of an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The values shown in FIG. 3 are not to be construed as limiting embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, implementation according to a range having an error range of +5% to -5% within the range shown in FIG. 3 may be understood as an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the length (W ₁ ) of the outer side of the radiator 101 may be longer than the outer diameter (ie, 2*r ₂ ) of the second patch 105 .

According to an embodiment, the length (W ₂ ) of the side of the inner hole of the radiator 101 may be longer than the diameter (2*r ₁ ) of the inner hole of the second patch 105 . For example, W ₂ may have a length of 0.5 to 2.2 millimeters (mm). r ₁ may have a length of about 0.5 to 2 millimeters (mm).

According to an embodiment, heights h ₁ and h ₂ of the first substrate 103 and the second substrate 107 may be different from each other. For example, h ₁ and h ₂ may have a length of about 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters (mm). h ₂ may have a length of about 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters (mm).

According to an embodiment, the diameter g of the ground plane 113 may be very large compared to the lengths W ₂ of the outer sides of the first substrate 103 and the second substrate 105 . For example, the diameter g of the ground plane 113 may have a greater length than about 80 millimeters (mm).

According to one embodiment, the 1-1 port (111a), the 1-2 port (111b), the 2-1 port (109a), and the 2-2 port (109b) may have the same or different lengths. can For example, the 1-1 port (111a), the 1-2 port (111b), the 2-1 port (109a), and the 2-2 port (109b) has a length of 3.5 ~ 4.5 millimeters (mm) can have

According to an embodiment, the first substrate 103 and the second substrate 107 may be ceramic materials. For example, the relative permittivity (er) may have a value of about 20 and the loss tangent may have a value of about 0.0023.

mS/mAccording to an embodiment, the radiator 101 and the second patch 105 may be made of copper. For example, the radiator 101 and the second patch 105 have a conductivity of about

mS/m

4 shows a graph of gain characteristics for an array antenna of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a graph shows a relationship between frequency and gain. The horizontal axis of the graph represents frequency (unit: gigahertz, GHz), and the vertical axis represents gain (unit: decibel isotropic (dbi). The dotted line 401 indicates that the first ports 111 are LHCP, The solid line 402 shows the frontward gain when the second ports 109 are RHCP The double dashed line 403 shows the total of the first ports and the second pods Frontward gain is shown, i.e., it can be seen that LHCP gain 401 and RHCP gain 402 are equal to the total frontward gain 403.

5 shows a graph of axial ratio characteristics for an array antenna of the present disclosure. The axis ratio characteristic is a polarization axis ratio, and means the ratio of the main axis to the minor axis. An axial ratio of 1 indicates circular polarization, and an axial ratio greater than 1 indicates elliptical polarization (or linear polarization).

Referring to FIG. 5 , a graph shows a relationship between frequency and axial ratio characteristics. The horizontal axis of the graph represents frequency (unit: gigahertz, GHz), and the vertical axis represents gain (unit: db (decibel). The dotted line 501 is the axial ratio in case of RHCP, and the solid line 503 is LHCP That is, in the case of using the shape of the array antenna 100 of the present disclosure, LHCP and RHCP can be implemented by simultaneous feeding using one radiator, and the axial ratio characteristic is not elliptical polarization below 3dB It can be confirmed that circular polarization is implemented.

6 illustrates an example of an electronic device including an array antenna according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example of an electronic device using an array antenna in a wireless communication system, a base station 610 and a terminal 620 are exemplified.

Base station 610 is a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to terminal 620 . The base station 610 has coverage defined as a certain geographical area based on a distance over which signals can be transmitted. In addition to the base station, the base station 610 includes 'access point (AP)', 'eNodeB (eNB)', '5G node (5th generation node)', '5G node ratio (5G NodeB, NB)', 'wireless point', 'transmission/reception point (TRP)', 'access unit', 'distributed unit (DU)', 'transmission/reception point ( It may be referred to as a transmission/reception point (TRP)', a radio unit (RU), a remote radio head (RRH), or other terms having equivalent technical meaning. The base station 610 may transmit a downlink signal or receive an uplink signal.

The terminal 620 is a device used by a user and communicates with the base station 610 through a radio channel. In some cases, the terminal 620 may be operated without user involvement. That is, the terminal 620 is a device that performs machine type communication (MTC) and may not be carried by a user. The terminal 620 includes 'user equipment (UE)', 'mobile station', 'subscriber station', and 'customer premises equipment' (CPE) other than a terminal. , 'remote terminal', 'wireless terminal', 'electronic device', or 'vehicle terminal', 'user device' or equivalent technical may be referred to by other terms that have meaning. According to an embodiment, of course, the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to vehicles or airborne equipment used in a radar system.

7 illustrates a functional configuration of an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device 710 may be either the base station 110 or the terminal 120 of FIG. 1 . Not only the antenna structure itself mentioned through FIGS. 1 and 2 , but also an electronic device including the antenna structure is included in embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9 , an exemplary functional configuration of an electronic device 710 is shown. The electronic device 710 may include an antenna unit 711, a filter unit 712, a radio frequency (RF) processing unit 713, and a control unit 714.

The antenna unit 711 may include multiple antennas. The antenna performs functions for transmitting and receiving signals through a radio channel. The antenna may include a radiator formed of a conductor or a conductive pattern formed on a substrate (eg, PCB) (eg, the first substrate). The antenna may radiate the up-converted signal on a wireless channel or acquire a signal radiated by another device. Each antenna may be referred to as an antenna element or antenna element. In some embodiments, the antenna unit 711 may include an antenna array in which a plurality of antenna elements form an array. The antenna unit 711 may be electrically connected to the filter unit 712 through RF signal lines. The antenna unit 711 may be mounted on a PCB including a plurality of antenna elements. The PCB may include a plurality of RF signal lines connecting each antenna element and the filter of the filter unit 712 . These RF signal lines may be referred to as a feeding network. The antenna unit 711 may provide the received signal to the filter unit 712 or may radiate the signal provided from the filter unit 712 into the air.

The antenna unit 711 according to various embodiments may include at least one antenna module in which a radiator mounted on a first substrate, a power supply unit mounted on a second substrate, and a ground plane are stacked as shown in FIG. 1 . there is. Here, the antenna module may include one radiator structure corresponding to different polarizations. According to an embodiment, different polarizations may include radiators in which both LHCP and RHCP are implemented. A radiator corresponding to the antenna element may be connected to multiple ports through a hybrid coupler and a feeding line. One pair of ports can be configured to form one polarization. The antenna unit 711 may be electrically connected to a filter unit 712, an RF processing unit 713, and a control unit 714 to be described later. That is, signals applied to the ports may be received from the filter unit 712, the RF processing unit 713, and the control unit 714.

The filter unit 712 may perform filtering to transmit a signal of a desired frequency. The filter unit 712 may perform a function of selectively identifying a frequency by forming resonance. In some embodiments, the filter unit 712 may form resonance through a cavity that structurally includes a dielectric. Also, in some embodiments, the filter unit 712 may form resonance through elements forming inductance or capacitance. Also, in some embodiments, the filter unit 712 may include an elastic filter such as a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter or a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter. The filter unit 712 may include at least one of a band pass filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and a band reject filter. . That is, the filter unit 712 may include RF circuits for obtaining a signal of a frequency band for transmission or a frequency band for reception. The filter unit 712 according to various embodiments may electrically connect the antenna unit 711 and the RF processing unit 713.

The RF processor 713 may include a plurality of RF paths. An RF path may be a unit of a path through which a signal received through an antenna or a signal radiated through an antenna passes. At least one RF path may be referred to as an RF chain. An RF chain may include a plurality of RF elements. RF components may include amplifiers, mixers, oscillators, DACs, ADCs, and the like. For example, the RF processing unit 713 includes an up converter for up-converting a base band digital transmission signal to a transmission frequency, and a DAC for converting the up-converted digital transmission signal into an analog RF transmission signal. (digital-to-analog converter). The upconverter and DAC form part of the transmit path. The transmit path may further include a power amplifier (PA) or coupler (or combiner). Also, for example, the RF processing unit 713 includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts an analog RF received signal into a digital received signal and a down converter that converts the digital received signal into a baseband digital received signal. ) may be included. The ADC and down converter form part of the receive path. The receive path may further include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) or a coupler (or divider). RF components of the RF processing unit may be implemented on a PCB. The base station 710 may include a structure in which an antenna unit 711, a filter unit 712, and an RF processing unit 713 are stacked in this order. Antennas and RF components of the RF processing unit may be implemented on a PCB, and filters may be repeatedly fastened between the PCBs to form a plurality of layers.

The controller 714 may control overall operations of the electronic device 710 . The controller 714 may include various modules for performing communication. The controller 714 may include at least one processor such as a modem. The controller 714 may include modules for digital signal processing. For example, the controller 714 may include a modem. During data transmission, the controller 714 generates complex symbols by encoding and modulating the transmission bit stream. Also, for example, upon receiving data, the control unit 714 restores the received bit stream by demodulating and decoding the baseband signal. The control unit 714 may perform protocol stack functions required by communication standards.

In the case of 5G base station antennas compared to 4G base station antennas, polarization performance becomes more important due to the narrow spacing between antennas. In 4G base stations that provide services using wide beams, the wider the antenna spacing, the higher the spatial separation and thus the communication performance improves. The antenna spacing of the array antenna must be narrowed. As such, due to the narrow antenna spacing of the 5G base station (eg 5G NR gNB, NG-RAN node) antenna compared to the 4G base station (eg LTE eNB) antenna, interference between antennas increases, achieving miniaturization and at the same time polarization Technology is essential to provide benefits.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, an array antenna may include a rectangular first substrate having a first thickness; a second substrate having a rectangular shape and having a second thickness disposed in contact with a lower surface of the first substrate; a ground plane shared by the first substrate and the second substrate; It may include first ports and second ports disposed penetrating the ground plane.

In one embodiment, the first substrate may include a first patch contacting an upper portion of the first substrate.

In one embodiment, the second substrate may include a second patch contacting an upper portion of the second substrate.

In one embodiment, the first patch may have a rectangular shape.

In one embodiment, the second patch may have a circular shape.

In one embodiment, the first ports may be left hand circular polarization (LHCP) ports.

In one embodiment, the second ports may be right hand circular polarization (RHCP) ports.

In one embodiment, the first ports may include a 1-1 port and a 1-2 port, and the second ports may include a 2-1 port and a 2-2 port.

In one embodiment, the 1-1 port, 1-2 port, 2-1 port, and 2-2 port may be symmetrical with respect to the centers of the first substrate and the second substrate.

In one embodiment, the first patch may include a rectangular hole having a predetermined width with respect to the center of the first patch.

In one embodiment, the second patch may include a circular hole having a predetermined radius with respect to the center of the second patch.

In one embodiment, the ground plane may have a circular shape having a predetermined diameter.

In one embodiment, the first substrate may be a ceramic substrate.

In one embodiment, the second substrate may be a ceramic substrate.

In one embodiment, the ground plane may be a printed circuit board (PCB).

In one embodiment, a first hybrid chip coupler for forming a first polarized wave may be included on a lower surface of the ground plane.

In one embodiment, a second hybrid chip coupler for forming a second polarized wave may be included on a lower surface of the ground plane.

In one embodiment, a port for applying a source may be included on a lower surface of the ground plane.

In one embodiment, the port for applying the source may apply the source using a coaxial cable.

In one embodiment, the first hybrid chip coupler may include a port for connecting a resistor.

In one embodiment, the second hybrid chip coupler may include a port for connecting a resistor.

In one embodiment, the 1-1 port and the 1-2 port may be connected to the first hybrid chip coupler.

In one embodiment, the 2-1 port and the 2-2 port may be connected to the second hybrid chip coupler.

In one embodiment, signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees may be applied to the 1-1 port and the 1-2 port.

In one embodiment, signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees may be applied to the 2-1 port and the 2-2 port.

Terms referring to components of the device used in the following description are illustrated for convenience of explanation. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may be used.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the expression of more than or less than is used to determine whether a specific condition is satisfied or fulfilled, but this is only a description to express an example and excludes more or less description. It's not about doing it. Conditions described as 'above' may be replaced with 'exceeds', conditions described as 'below' may be replaced with 'below', and conditions described as 'above and below' may be replaced with 'above and below'.

The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program commands recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiment or may be known and usable to those skilled in computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic media such as floptical disks. - includes hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as magneto-optical media, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, as well as machine language codes such as those produced by a compiler. The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

As described above, although the embodiments have been described with limited examples and drawings, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations from the above description. For example, the described techniques may be performed in an order different from the method described, and/or components of the described system, structure, device, circuit, etc. may be combined or combined in a different form than the method described, or other components may be used. Or even if it is replaced or substituted by equivalents, appropriate results can be achieved.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents of the claims are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (25)

In the array antenna,
A first substrate having a rectangular shape having a first thickness;
a second substrate having a rectangular shape and having a second thickness disposed in contact with a lower surface of the first substrate;
a ground plane shared by the first substrate and the second substrate;
Including first ports and second ports disposed through the ground plane,
A first hybrid chip coupler for forming left hand circular polarization (LHCP) and a second hybrid chip coupler for forming right hand circular polarization (RHCP) are disposed on the lower surface of the ground plane, ,
The first ports are used as LHCP ports based on the first hybrid chip coupler,
The second ports are used as RHCP ports based on the second hybrid chip coupler.
The method of claim 1,
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first substrate includes a first patch in contact with an upper portion of the first substrate.
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the second substrate includes a second patch contacting an upper portion of the second substrate.
The method of claim 2,
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first patch has a rectangular shape.
The method of claim 3,
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the second patch has a circular shape.
delete delete The method of claim 1,
The first ports include a 1-1 port and a 1-2 port,
The second ports include a 2-1 port and a 2-2 port.
The method of claim 8,
The 1-1 port, the 1-2 port, the 2-1 port, and the 2-2 port are symmetrical with respect to the centers of the first substrate and the second substrate.
The method of claim 2,
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first patch includes a rectangular hole having a predetermined width with respect to a center of the first patch.
The method of claim 3,
The second patch includes a circular hole having a predetermined radius with respect to the center of the second patch.
The method of claim 1,
The ground plane is an array antenna having a circular shape having a predetermined diameter.
The method of claim 1,
The array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the first substrate is a ceramic substrate.
The method of claim 1,
The array antenna of claim 1, wherein the second substrate is a ceramic substrate.
The method of claim 1,
The ground plane is an array antenna that is a printed circuit board (PCB).
delete delete The array antenna of claim 1 , further comprising a port for applying a source to a lower surface of the ground plane.
[Claim 19] The array antenna of claim 18, wherein the port for applying the source uses a coaxial cable to apply the source.
The method of claim 1,
The first hybrid chip coupler includes a port for connecting a resistor.
The method of claim 1,
The second hybrid chip coupler includes a port for connecting a resistor.
The method of claim 8,
The 1-1 port and the 1-2 port are connected to the first hybrid chip coupler. The method of claim 8,
The 2-1 port and the 2-2 port are connected to the second hybrid chip coupler.
The method of claim 22
An array antenna to which signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees are applied to the 1-1 port and the 1-2 port.
The method of claim 22
An array antenna to which signals having a phase difference of 90 degrees are applied to the 2-1 port and the 2-2 port.

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